Sierra Leone at the 2004 Summer Olympics

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Sierra Leone at the
2004 Summer Olympics
Flag of Sierra Leone.svg
IOC code SLE
NOC National Olympic Committee of Sierra Leone
Website www.nocsl.org
in Athens
Competitors2 in 1 sport
Flag bearer Hawanatu Bangura
Medals
Gold
0
Silver
0
Bronze
0
Total
0
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)

Sierra Leone competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. This was the nation's eighth appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut in the 1968 Summer Olympics. The Sierra Leone delegation included two track and field athletes; Lamin Tucker and Hawanatu Bangura, both of whom were sprinters that were selected via winning an event in Freetown, as the nation had no athletes that met the "A" or "B" standards in any event. Bangura was selected as flag bearer for the opening ceremony. Neither of the two athletes progressed beyond the heats.

Contents

Background

Sierra Leone participated in eight Summer Olympic games between its debut in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, with the exception of the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, and the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, the latter because of a boycott relating to the New Zealand national rugby union team touring South Africa. [1] [2]

The Sierra Leone National Olympic Committee (NOC) selected two athletes via wildcards. Usually, an NOC would be able to enter up to 3 qualified athletes in each individual event as long as each athlete met the "A" standard, or 1 athlete per event if they met the "B" standard. [3] However, since Sierra Leone had no athletes that met either standard, they were allowed to select two athletes, one of each gender, as wildcards. The Sierra Leone NOC decided to host an event in Freetown, where the fastest man and woman in the event would be selected to compete at the Athens Games. [4] The two athletes that won and therefore were selected to compete in the Athens games were Lamin Tucker and Hawanatu Bangura. They competed in the track and field Men's 100 meters and in the Women's 100 meters respectively. [5] [4] Bangura was flag bearer for the opening ceremony. [6]

Athletics

Making his Summer Olympic debut, Lamin Tucker qualified for the Athens Games via winning an event in Freetown. [7] [4] He competed on 21 August in the Men's 100 meters against eight other athletes in the seventh heat. He finished the race in 10.72 seconds, ranking sixth. [8] He ranked ahead of American Samoa's Kelsey Nakanelua (11.25 seconds) and behind Canada's Pierre Browne (10.32 seconds), in a heat led by Jamaica's Asafa Powell (10.06 seconds). Overall, Tucker placed 61st out of the 84 athletes that competed and was 0.38 seconds slower than the slowest athlete that progressed to the next round. Therefore, that was the end of his competition. [9] Competing at her first Summer Olympics, Hawanatu Bangura was notable for holding the Sierra Leone flag at the opening ceremony and for becoming the youngest ever competitor to represent Sierra Leone at the Olympics aged 16, a record that still stands today. [10] [6] [1] She qualified for the Athens Games via winning an event in Freetown. [4] She competed on 20 August in 100 meters in the seventh heat against seven other athletes. She ran a time of 12.11 seconds, finishing seventh. [11] Bangura ranked ahead of Iraq's Alaa Jassim (12.70 seconds) and behind Papua New Guinea's Mae Koime (12.00 seconds), in a heat led by France's Christine Arron and Ghana's Vida Anim (11.14 seconds). Overall, Bangura was 0.68 seconds behind the slowest athlete that progressed to the quarter-finals and therefore she did not advance. [11] [12]

Key
Men
AthleteEventHeatQuarterfinalSemifinalFinal
ResultRankResultRankResultRankResultRank
Lamin Tucker 100 m 10.726Did not advance
Women
AthleteEventHeatQuarterfinalSemifinalFinal
ResultRankResultRankResultRankResultRank
Hawanatu Bangura 100 m 12.117Did not advance

Related Research Articles

The men's 100 metres was of one of 23 track events of the athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics, in Athens. It was contested at the Athens Olympic Stadium, from August 21 to 22, by a total of 82 sprinters from 62 nations. Each nation was limited to 3 athletes per rules in force since the 1930 Olympic Congress.

The women's 100 metres at the 2004 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program were held at the Athens Olympic Stadium from August 20 to 21.

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The women's 200 metres at the 2004 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program were held at the Athens Olympic Stadium from August 24 to 26.

Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Mens 400 metres hurdles Olympic athletics event

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Vanuatu at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sporting event delegation

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Hawanatu Bangura is a female sprinter from Sierra Leone. She is listed at 4'8 tall and 115 lbs. Bangura represented her country at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the 100m dash in Athens, Greece. In Athens she finished 7th in her individual heat with a time of 12.11, .97 of a second off heat winner Vida Anim of Ghana.

Nabie Foday Fofanah Guinean sprinter

Nabie Foday Fofanah is a Guinean sprinter, born in Freetown, Sierra Leone and currently living in Los Angeles, CA. He competed in the 2004 Olympic Games held in Athens, in the specialities of 100 and 200 meters and he acted as a flag bearer for his country. Once relocated in Los Angeles, he developed the Speed Doctor brand, a nickname that also identifies him.

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Mauritania at the 2008 Summer Olympics Sporting event delegation

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Cape Verde at the 2012 Summer Olympics Sporting event delegation

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References

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  2. "BBC ON THIS DAY: 1976: African countries boycott Olympics". BBC . Retrieved 22 January 2015.
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  6. 1 2 "2004 Athens: Flag Bearers for the opening ceremony". Olympics. 13 August 2004. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  7. "Lamin Tucker". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  8. "IAAF – Results – Olympic Games – 2004 – Men – 100 meters – Heats – Results". IAAF . Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  9. "IAAF – Results – Olympic Games – 2004 – Men – 100 meters – Heats – Summary". IAAF. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  10. "Hawanatu Bangura". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  11. 1 2 "IAAF – Results – Olympic Games – 2004 – Women – 100 meters – Heats – Results". IAAF. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  12. "IAAF – Results – Olympic Games – 2004 – Women – 100 meters – Quarterfinals – Results". IAAF. Retrieved 28 January 2015.